Chitosan is naturally derived and has intriguing antibacterial, antimicrobial, polycationic, and film forming properties that provide a strong basis for materials development across many industries. However, chitosan materials are currently limited by batch-to-batch variability and lack of processing flexibility. Graphene-based materials have been explored as a potential additive for chitosan to improve mechanical and thermal properties. However, there are conflicting results in literature about the impact of graphene-based additives on the final properties of the composite materials. In this work, we highlight the use of glycopolymer-based chitosan mimics to study the bonding interactions with graphene oxide additives. Factors of molecular weight and copolymer composition along with graphene oxide size and oxygen functionality were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and FTIR. The data from the chitosan mimics was then used to down select factors to study using chitosan materials. We were able to evaluate how change in graphene oxide additive and loading level changed the thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties of the chitosan graphene oxide nanocomposites. Materials were characterized using TGA, DSC, parallel plate rheology, tensile testing, and WAXS.

Evaluation of bonding interations between chtiosan and graphene oxide and their influence on material properties

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